Systems and methods to automatically create dedicated bearers during failure event

ABSTRACT

A bearer creation system creates dedicated bearers for sessions requested by user equipment devices based on a policy associated with the user equipment device. The bearer creation system detects that a request to initiate a session has been sent by user equipment associated with a policy. The bearer creation system compares the request to initiate the session to information indicated by the policy, and determines whether to create a dedicated bearer for the session based on the comparison. The bearer creation system creates a dedicated bearer for the session based on a determination that a dedicated bearer should be created.

BRIEF SUMMARY

A bearer guarantees a level of quality of service (QOS) for userequipment on a Wireless network. The bearer may be a voice bearer, adata bearer, or other type of bearer, and may be created for aparticular session. However, in the event of a failure on the network,such as a link failure, overload, loss of a node, or other failure whichaffects the creation of a bearer, the network may be unable to create adedicated bearer, such as dedicated bearers defined by 3GPPspecifications for QOS attributes associated with default and dedicatedbearers, for user equipment (or “user equipment devices”). As a result,the user equipment is unable to obtain the level of QOS which would havebeen guaranteed by the dedicated bearer, and must use a default bearerinstead. Furthermore, in the event of a failure, the user equipment maybe assigned a default bearer, which is shared by other user equipmentconnected to the network. This may lower quality of service due to thehigh traffic being shared among other user equipment devices using thedefault bearer.

The embodiments disclosed herein address the issues above and thus helpsolve the above technical problems and improve the technology of networkbearer creation by providing a technical solution that is able to createa dedicated bearer for user equipment in the event of a failure on thenetwork. Additionally, the embodiments disclosed herein, are furtherable to facilitate the creation of dedicated bearers in conjunction withnetwork slicing, which allows the creation of dedicated bearers withfewer networking infrastructure components.

In some embodiments, a bearer creation system detects that a request toinitiate a session has been sent by user equipment associated with apolicy, compares the request to initiate the session to informationindicated by the policy, determines whether a dedicated bearer should becreated based on the comparison, and enables a local policy to create adedicated bearer for the session based on a determination that thededicated bearer should be created. In some embodiments, the bearercreation system receives a request to initiate a session from userequipment, compares the request with a policy associated with the userequipment, determines whether to create a dedicated bearer based on thecomparison, and causes the user equipment to conduct the session via thededicated bearer. In some embodiments, the bearer creation systemincludes a bearer creation data structure, which can be used todetermine whether to create a dedicated bearer for a session based oninformation indicating a policy associated with a user device andinformation included in a request to begin a call.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a display diagram showing an example network in which thebearer creation system operates, according to various embodimentsdescribed herein.

FIG. 2 is a display diagram showing an example RDC, according to variousembodiments described herein.

FIG. 3 is a display diagram showing an example NDC, according to variousembodiments described herein.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram depicting example components incorporated in abearer creation system, according to various embodiments describedherein.

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram depicting a process for creating a dedicatedbearer, according to various embodiments described herein.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram depicting a process to determine whether asession should use a dedicated bearer, according to various embodimentsdescribed herein.

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram depicting a process for user equipment to use adedicated bearer, according to various embodiments discussed herein.

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram depicting a process to use a bearer creationdata structure to determine whether to create a dedicated bearer for asession.

FIG. 9 is a flow diagram depicting a process to create a dedicatedbearer in the event of a network failure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Bearers facilitate and guarantee a level of QOS, such as a bitrate,packet delay, packet loss rate, priority, and other quality of servicemeasures, for a session used by user equipment. A network typically hasat least two types of bearers: dedicated bearers, which are bearerscreated for specific session used by user equipment; and defaultbearers, which are bearers that are used by user equipment by default. Adedicated bearer typically has a higher guaranteed level of QOS than adefault bearer. Furthermore, default bearers typically share apredetermined resource pool on the network, thus as the sessions using adefault bearer increase, the QOS of the default bearer decrease becausethe pool of resources is being shared by more sessions and userequipment devices.

Currently, when a network failure which impacts the creation of bearersoccurs, such as a Binding Session Function (BSF) going down, a PolicyControl Function (PCF) going down, or other network failures whichimpact the creation of a bearer, new sessions are routed to a defaultbearer and dedicated bearers cannot be created. Thus, user equipmentdevices are unable to obtain the guaranteed quality of service attainedby using a dedicated bearer. Additionally, the quality of service of thedefault bearer is negatively impacted because the resources allocated tothe default bearer must be shared among more user equipment devices andsessions than usual.

The embodiments disclosed herein address the issues above and help solvethe above technical problems and improve the technology of networkbearer creation by providing a technical solution that is able to createa dedicated bearer for user equipment in the event of a failure on thenetwork. A bearer creation system additionally detects that a request toinitiate a session has been sent by user equipment associated with apolicy. The bearer creation system compares the request to initiate thesession to information indicated by the policy, and determines whether adedicated bearer should be created based on the comparison. The bearercreation system enables a local policy to create a dedicated bearer forthe session based on the determination that a dedicated bearer should becreated. In some embodiments, the bearer creation system uses a UserPlane Function (UPF) to perform the comparison and create the bearer.

In some embodiments, the bearer creation system is be used to support5QI dedicated bearer based traffic for services such as voice services,video services, data services, etc. In some embodiments, the bearercreation system is used in conjunction with slicing to provide dedicatedbearers without using a PCF or BSF.

In some embodiments, the bearer creation system performs a deep packetinspection on the request to initiate a session. The deep packetinspection may be used to obtain information from the request, such as asource IP address, destination IP address, source port, destinationport, protocol, or other information included in the request. Theinformation obtained via the deep packet inspection may be compared topolicy information associated with a user equipment device that sent therequest. The comparison may be performed by using a five-tuple match,which matches the source IP address, destination IP address, sourceport, destination port, and protocol, from the request to the policy.The comparison may be performed by comparing an identifier for the userequipment device obtained from the information included in the requestto initiate the session to information indicated by the policy. Thebearer creation system may determine whether to create a dedicatedbearer for the session based on the comparison. The bearer creationsystem may route the session through a default bearer based on thecomparison.

In some embodiments, the session is a call, such as a voice call or avideo call. The voice call may be a VoNR call. In some embodiments, therequest is a SIP request. In some embodiments, the dedicated bearer is a5QI dedicated bearer.

In some embodiments the bearer creation system determines whether atleast one of a PCF or BSF is operational. The bearer creation system maydetermine that a PCF or BSF is not operational based on a determinationthat the PCF or BSF is not operating at normal capacity, at fullcapacity, at all, etc. The bearer creation system may determine that aPCF or BSF is not operational based on a determination that the PCF orBSF is operating at a reduced capacity. The bearer creation system maydetermine whether a bearer should be created by the UPF based on atleast the determination that at least one of the PCF or BSF are notoperational and the comparison. The bearer creation system may determinethat a PCF or BSF is operating at a reduced capacity based on adetermination of whether the PCF or BSF is overloaded, not responding,etc.

In some embodiments, the user equipment is configured to use a networkslice. The bearer creation system may be used in conjunction withslicing to provide a dedicated bearer without using a PCF, BSF, or othernetwork infrastructure required to provide a dedicated bearer. Thebearer creation system may also be used to create a custom policy,without affecting other shared policies on the slice. Thus, the bearercreation system is able to create dedicated bearers for user equipmentwhile using fewer network resources and functions than other methods ofcreating dedicated bearers.

In some embodiments, the bearer creation system uses a bearer creationdata structure which causes a computer to receive a request to initiatea session from user equipment and determine whether to create adedicated bearer for the session. The bearer creation data structure mayinclude information indicating a policy associated with the userequipment and information indicating the request to initiate thesession. The bearer creation data structure may include informationindicating a local policy which can be used to create the dedicatedbearer. The bearer creation data structure may include informationindicating a default bearer which can be assigned to the session if thededicated bearer is not created in the event there is a failure increating the dedicated bearer.

Unless the context requires otherwise, throughout the specification andclaims which follow, the word “comprise” and variations thereof, suchas, “comprises” and “comprising” are to be construed in an open,inclusive sense, for example “including, but not limited to.”

Reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment” or “anembodiment” means that a particular feature, structure or characteristicdescribed in connection with the embodiment is included in at least oneembodiment. Thus, the appearances of the phrases “in one embodiment” or“in an embodiment” in various places throughout this specification arenot necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, theparticular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined inany suitable manner in one or more embodiments.

As used in this specification and the appended claims, the singularforms “a,” “an,” and “the” include plural referents unless the contentclearly dictates otherwise. The term “or” is generally employed in itssense including “and/or” unless the content clearly dictates otherwise.

The headings and Abstract of the Disclosure provided herein are forconvenience only and do not interpret the scope or meaning of theembodiments.

FIG. 1 is a display diagram showing an example network 100 in which thebearer creation system operates, according to various embodimentsdescribed herein. It is to be appreciated that FIG. 1 illustrates justone example of a network in which a bearer creation system operates, andthat various embodiments discussed herein are not limited to the use ofsuch an environment. The network 100 includes user equipment 101, aregional data center (RDC) 120, a user plane function (UPF) 121, anational data center (NDC) 130, a BSF 131, a PCF 133, a composer orslice orchestrator 140, and network slice selection function (NSSF) 141.

The network 100 is a network, communication system, or networked system(not shown), to which the user equipment 101, RDC 120, UPF 121, NDC 130,BSF 131, PCF 133, composer 140, NSSF 141 other user equipment devices(not shown), and other network functions (not shown), may be coupled.Non-limiting examples of such a network or communication system include,but are not limited to, an Ethernet system, twisted pair Ethernetsystem, an intranet, a local area network (LAN) system, short rangewireless network (e.g., Bluetooth®), a personal area network (e.g., aZigbee network based on the IEEE 802.15.4 specification), a ConsumerElectronics Control (CEC) communication system, Wi-Fi, satellitecommunication systems and networks, cellular networks, cable networks,or the like. One or more endpoint devices, such as PCs, tablets, laptopcomputers, smartphones, personal assistants, Internet connectiondevices, wireless LAN, WiFi, Worldwide Interoperability for MicrowaveAccess (WiMax) devices, or the like, may be communicatively coupled tothe network and/or to each other so that the plurality of endpointdevices are communicatively coupled together. Thus, such a networkenables the user equipment 101, RDC 120, UPF 121, NDC 130, BSF 131, PCF133, composer 140, NSSF 141, other user equipment devices, and othernetwork functions, used as part of the bearer creation system, tocommunicate with each other.

The user equipment 101 may include devices such as cellular telephones,smartphones, tablets, personal computers, laptop computers, wirelessperipheral devices such as headphones, microphones, mice, keyboards,etc., security cameras, Internet of Things (or “smart”) devices,televisions, smart televisions, smart television devices—such as FireTV,Roku, AppleTV, etc.,—routers, digital assistants, personal assistantdevices—such as Amazon Alexa, Google Home, etc.,—drones, etc. The userequipment 101 may interconnect to one or more communications media orsources, such as routers, network switches, modems, etc., to transmitcommunications to other devices. The user equipment 101 may connect tothe RDC 120 and the NDC 130 to access the internet, participate incalls, etc. The user equipment may connect to the RDC 120 and NDC 130 byusing the session initiation protocol (SIP).

The RDC 120 communicates to the NDC 130 through a UPF 121. The RDC 120is further discussed with regards to FIG. 2 .

The UPF 121 performs packet routing and forwarding for user equipment inthe network 100. The UPF 121 is also able to perform deep packetinspection on session requests it receives from the RDC 120. The bearercreation system may use the UPF 121 to perform the deep packetinspection, and the five-tuple match. Furthermore, the UPF 121 mayinclude a local policy used by the bearer creation system to create adedicated bearer.

The NDC 130 communicates with the UPF 121 and BSF 131. The NDC 130 isfurther discussed with regards to FIG. 3 .

The BSF 131 is a function which works with a PCF 133 to help facilitatemessaging for the NDC 130 for voice sessions, video sessions, or othersessions within the network 100. The BSF 131 may be used to tracksessions in the network. The BSF 131 may also be used to create adedicated bearer during normal operation of the network 100.

The PCF 133 is a function which manages policies assigned to userequipment devices. The PCF 133 may additionally be used in conjunctionwith the BSF 131 to create a dedicated bearer during normal operation ofthe network 100.

The composer or slice orchestrator 140 is used to coordinate networkcomponents involved in the life-cycle of each network slice. Thecomposer 140 operates in conjunction with the NSSF 141, which alsomanages a network slice authorized for use by the user equipment.

During normal operation, the user equipment communicates, such as bytransmitting a request to initiate a session, with the RDC 120. The RDC120 communicates with the UPF 121 to facilitate bearer creation. The RDC120 communicates with the NDC 130 through the UPF 121. The NDC 130communicates with the BSF 131 and PCF 133 to create a dedicated bearer,and the PCF 133 communicates with the RDC 120 in order to facilitate thecreation of the dedicated bearer. The RDC 120 then communicates with andinstructs the UPF 121 to create the dedicated bearer. However, when aconnection fails between the PCF 133 and the RDC 120 or BSF 131, thededicated bearer is not created. Additionally, when the connection failsbetween the BSF 131 and the NDC 130 or PCF 133, the dedicated bearer isnot created.

The embodiments described herein are able to bypass the BSF 131 and PCF133 when their connection fails, and continue to create a dedicatedbearer by using the UPF 121. The UPF 121 communicates with the RDC 120to create the dedicated bearer after determining that a dedicated bearershould be created for the user equipment 101.

In a case where network slicing is used, the composer 140 instructs theRDC 120 to utilize the UPF 121 for bearer creation, requests that abearer be created for the user equipment 101. The RDC 120 communicateswith the UPF 121 to create the dedicated bearer based after determiningthat a dedicated bearer should be created.

Example embodiments described herein provide applications, tools, datastructures and other support to implement systems and methods forcreating dedicated bearers. The example embodiments described hereinadditionally provide applications, tools, data structures and othersupport to implement systems and methods for creating a dedicated bearerfor a user when a network failure has occurred. Other embodiments of thedescribed techniques may be used for other purposes, including forimplementing dedicated bearers within a network slice. In thedescription provided herein, numerous specific details are set forth inorder to provide a thorough understanding of the described techniques.The embodiments described also can be practiced without some of thespecific details described herein, or with other specific details, suchas changes with respect to the ordering of processes or devices,different processes or devices, and the like. Thus, the scope of thetechniques and/or functions described are not limited by the particularorder, selection, or decomposition of steps described with reference toany particular module, component, or routine.

FIG. 2 is a display diagram showing an example RDC 120, according tovarious embodiments described herein. The RDC 120 includes a servicecommunication proxy (SCP) 201, an access and mobility function (AMF)203, and a session management function (SMF) 205. The SCP 201 providesmessage forwarding and routing within the RDC 120. The AMF 203 managesregistration, connection, authentication, as well as performing otherfunctions. The SMF 205 manages sessions created for user equipmentdevices. The SMF 205 additionally communicates with the PCF 133 and UPF121 to provide session management and instruct the UPF 121 to create abearer.

FIG. 3 is a display diagram showing an example NDC 130, according tovarious embodiments described herein. The NDC 130 includes a sessionborder controller (SBC) 301, a charging function (CHF) 303, and a callsession control function (CSCF) 305. The SBC 301 is used to managesessions and protocols used by functions and devices connected to thenetwork 100 to support the setup of voice sessions, video sessions, andother sessions. The sessions managed by the SBC 301 may be SIP-based,VOIP-based, or based on other protocols used for sessions. The SBC 301communicates with the CSCF 305 to manage communication between userequipment 101 and other services and networks. The SBC also typicallycommunicates with the BCF 131 to begin the process of setting up adedicated bearer for a user equipment device 101. The CHF 303 managesand monitors current usage values for quality of service attributesdescribing the quality of service provided to the user equipment 101.The CSCF 305 manages communication obtained from the user equipment 101to services and other networks to facilitate services like voice calls,video calls, and other service provided over a network.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram depicting example components incorporated in abearer creation system 400, according to various embodiments describedherein. The bearer creation system 400 may be: located on the network100 in a position to communicate with the UPF 121, SMF 205, and SBC 301;integrated as part of the SMF 205, UPF 121, or another network function;a standalone network function; or any other network function, device,computer system, etc., able to communicate with the network functionsdescribed herein. In various embodiments, the bearer creation system 400includes one or more of the following: a computer memory 401 for storingprograms and data while they are being used, including data associatedwith the user equipment 101, policies applied to the user equipment 101,and the bearer creation system 400, an operating system including akernel, and device drivers; a central processing unit (CPU) 402 forexecuting computer programs; a persistent storage device 403, such as ahard drive or flash drive for persistently storing programs and data;and a network connection 404 for connecting to one or more functions,such as UPF 121, SMF 205, SBC 301, and/or other network functions, andfor connecting to one or more computer devices such as the userequipment 101 and/or other computer systems, to send and/or receivedata, such as via the Internet or another network and associatednetworking hardware, such as switches, routers, repeaters, electricalcables and optical fibers, light emitters and receivers, radiotransmitters and receivers, and the like, and to scan for and retrievesignals from functions, such as UPF 121, SMF 205, SBC 301, and/or othernetwork functions, and for connecting to one or more computer devicessuch as the user equipment 101 and/or other computer systems. In variousembodiments, the bearer creation system 400 additionally includes inputand output devices, such as a keyboard, a mouse, display devices, etc.

While a bearer creation system 400 configured as described may be usedin some embodiments, in various other embodiments, the bearer creationsystem 400 may be implemented using devices of various types andconfigurations, and having various components. The memory 401 mayinclude a bearer creation controller 410 which containscomputer-executable instructions that, when executed by the CPU 402,cause the bearer creation system 400 to perform the operations andfunctions described herein. For example, the programs referenced above,which may be stored in computer memory 401, may include or be comprisedof such computer-executable instructions. The memory 401 may alsoinclude an index of quality of service attribute thresholds.

The bearer creation controller 410 performs the core functions of thebearer creation system 400, as discussed herein and also with respect toFIGS. 5 through 9 . In particular, the bearer creation controller 410determines whether a dedicated bearer should be created for a userequipment device. Additionally, the bearer creation controller 410 maycompare a request received from a user equipment device to a policy todetermine whether the dedicated bearer should be created. The bearercreation controller 410 may also determine whether a BSF 131 or PCF 133are not operational, and may determine whether to create the dedicatedbearer based on a determination that at least one of the BSF 131 or PCF133 are not operational. In some embodiments, the bearer creationcontroller 410 creates a dedicated bearer for a network slice. In someembodiments, the bearer creation controller 410 uses a default bearerwhen a dedicated bearer is not created. In some embodiments, the bearercreation controller 410 performs a deep packet inspection on therequest. In some embodiments, the bearer creation controller 410performs a five-tuple match as part of the comparison of the request tothe policy.

In an example embodiment, the bearer creation controller 410 and/orcomputer-executable instructions stored on memory 401 of the bearercreation system 400 are implemented using standard programmingtechniques. For example, the bearer creation controller 410 and/orcomputer-executable instructions stored on memory 401 of the bearercreation system 400 may be implemented as a “native” executable runningon CPU 402, along with one or more static or dynamic libraries. In otherembodiments, the bearer creation controller 410 and/orcomputer-executable instructions stored on memory 401 of the bearercreation system 400 may be implemented as instructions processed by avirtual machine that executes as some other program.

The embodiments described above may also use synchronous or asynchronousclient-server computing techniques. However, the various components maybe implemented using more monolithic programming techniques as well, forexample, as an executable running on a single CPU computer system, oralternatively decomposed using a variety of structuring techniques knownin the art, including but not limited to, multiprogramming,multithreading, client-server, or peer-to-peer, running on one or morecomputer systems each having one or more CPUs. Some embodiments mayexecute concurrently and asynchronously, and communicate using messagepassing techniques. Equivalent synchronous embodiments are alsosupported. Also, other functions could be implemented and/or performedby each component/module, and in different orders, and by differentcomponents/modules, yet still achieve the functions of the bearercreation system 400.

In addition, programming interfaces to the data stored as part of thebearer creation controller 410 can be available by standard mechanismssuch as through C, C++, C #, Java, and web APIs; libraries for accessingfiles, databases, or other data repositories; through scriptinglanguages such as JavaScript and VBScript; or through Web servers, FTPservers, or other types of servers providing access to stored data. Thebearer creation controller 410 may be implemented by using one or moredatabase systems, file systems, or any other technique for storing suchinformation, or any combination of the above, including implementationsusing distributed computing techniques.

Different configurations and locations of programs and data arecontemplated for use with techniques described herein. A variety ofdistributed computing techniques are appropriate for implementing thecomponents of the embodiments in a distributed manner including but notlimited to TCP/IP sockets, RPC, RMI, HTTP, Web Services (XML-RPC,JAX-RPC, SOAP, and the like). Other variations are possible. Also, otherfunctionality could be provided by each component/module, or existingfunctionality could be distributed amongst the components/modules indifferent ways, yet still achieve the functions of the bearer creationsystem 400, user equipment 101, SMF 205, and/or UPF 121.

Furthermore, in some embodiments, some or all of the components/portionsof the bearer creation controller 410, and/or functionality provided bythe computer-executable instructions stored on memory 401 of the bearercreation system 400 may be implemented or provided in other manners,such as at least partially in firmware and/or hardware, including, butnot limited to, one or more application-specific integrated circuits(ASICs), standard integrated circuits, controllers (e.g., by executingappropriate instructions, and including microcontrollers and/or embeddedcontrollers), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), complexprogrammable logic devices (CPLDs), and the like. Some or all of thesystem components and/or data structures may also be stored as contents(e.g., as executable or other machine-readable software instructions orstructured data) on a computer-readable medium (e.g., as a hard disk; amemory; a computer network or cellular wireless network; or a portablemedia article to be read by an appropriate drive or via an appropriateconnection, such as a DVD or flash memory device) so as to enable orconfigure the computer-readable medium and/or one or more associatedcomputing systems or devices to execute or otherwise use or provide thecontents to perform at least some of the described techniques. Suchcomputer program products may also take other forms in otherembodiments. Accordingly, embodiments of this disclosure may bepracticed with other computer system configurations.

In general, a range of programming languages may be employed forimplementing any of the functionality of the servers, functions, userequipment, etc., present in the example embodiments, includingrepresentative implementations of various programming language paradigmsand platforms, including but not limited to, object-oriented (e.g.,Java, C++, C #, Visual Basic.NET, Smalltalk, and the like), functional(e.g., ML, Lisp, Scheme, and the like), procedural (e.g., C, Pascal,Ada, Modula, and the like), scripting (e.g., Perl, Ruby, PHP, Python,JavaScript, VBScript, and the like) and declarative (e.g., SQL, Prolog,and the like).

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram depicting a process for creating a dedicatedbearer, according to various embodiments described herein. At act 501,the bearer creation system receives a request to initiate a session fromuser equipment. The session may be a call, such as a VoNR call, videocall, voice call, etc. The bearer creation system may receive therequest to initiate the session at a UPF 121. The request to initiate asession may be transmitted from user equipment. The request to initiatea session may be transmitted using the SIP protocol.

At act 503, the bearer creation system compares the request to initiatethe session with a policy associated with the user equipment. The policymay be a policy accessible by a UPF 121. The bearer creation system mayperform the comparison by using the UPF 121 to obtain information fromthe request by performing a deep packet inspection. The information mayinclude a source IP address, source port, destination IP address,destination port, and protocol from the request. The comparison may beperformed by comparing information obtained from the request to initiatethe session to information indicated by the policy associated with theuser equipment. The information indicated by the policy may also includea source IP address, source port, destination IP address, destinationport, and protocol. The comparison may include performing a five-tuplematch on the information obtained from the request and the informationindicated by the policy.

At act 505, the bearer creation system determines whether a dedicatedbearer should be created for the user equipment based on the comparisonof the request to the policy. The bearer creation system may determinethat a dedicated bearer should be created when the information obtainedfrom the request and the information indicated by the policy match.

At act 507, the bearer creation system uses a local policy to create adedicated bearer for the session based on a determination that thededicated bearer should be created. The bearer creation system may usethe UPF to create the dedicated bearer and notify the SMF 205 that abearer is to be created based on a local policy match. In someembodiments, the local policy includes information used to create thededicated bearer, such as quality of service attributes for thededicated bearer. The local policy may be accessible by the UPF 121.After act 507, the process ends.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram depicting a process to determine whether asession should use a dedicated bearer, according to various embodimentsdescribed herein. Acts 601-605 proceed similarly to acts 501-505. At act607, if the dedicated bearer should be created the process proceeds toact 611, otherwise the process proceeds to act 609. At act 609, thebearer creation system does not create a dedicated bearer, and thesession is routed through a default bearer. At act 611, the bearercreation system enables a local policy to create a dedicated bearer forthe session in a similar manner to act 507.

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram depicting a process for user equipment to use adedicated bearer, according to various embodiments discussed herein. Atact 701, the user equipment device transmits a request to initiate acall to the bearer creation system. The bearer creation system mayreceive the request to initiate the call at an RDC 120 may use an SMF205 and UPF 121 to create a session for the call. The request mayinclude information such as a source IP address, a source port, adestination port, a destination IP address, a protocol, an identifierfor the user equipment, etc. The request may be transmitted via SIPprotocol. The call may be a voice call, VoNR call, video call, etc.

The bearer creation system may compare the request to a policyaccessible by the UPF 121. The comparison may include performing afive-tuple match, where the five values in the five-tuple match includea source network address, source port, destination network address,destination port, and the protocol being used. To perform the five-tuplematch, the bearer creation system may match compares five valuesspecified by the policy to five values obtained from the request. Thebearer creation system may perform a deep packet inspection on therequest to obtain the five values. The bearer creation system may createa dedicated bearer to conduct the call based on a comparison of therequest to the policy. The system may route the call through a defaultbearer based on the comparison of the request to the policy.

At act 703, the user equipment uses a bearer to conduct the call. Thebearer may be a dedicated bearer created by the bearer creation systembased on a comparison of the request to the policy. The bearer may be adefault bearer which the bearer creation system assigns to the userequipment based on the comparison of the request to the policy. Afteract 703, the process ends.

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram depicting a process to use a bearer creationdata structure to determine whether to create a dedicated bearer for asession. The bearer creation system performs act 801 in a similar mannerto acts 501 and 601.

At act 803, the bearer creation system compares the request to initiatethe session to bearer creation information stored in the bearer creationdata structure. The bearer creation information is associated with apolicy. The bearer creation data structure may include informationindicating the policy. The bearer creation information includesinformation used to determine whether a dedicated bearer should becreated. The bearer creation information may include information such asa source IP address, a source port, a destination port, a destination IPaddress, a protocol, an identifier for the user equipment, etc., whichis compared to the request to initiate the session. The bearer creationsystem may perform the comparison by using the UPF 121 to obtaininformation from the request by performing a deep packet inspection. Theinformation may include a source IP address, source port, destination IPaddress, destination port, and protocol from the request. The comparisonmay be performed by comparing information obtained from the request toinitiate the session to information included in the bearer creation datastructure. The comparison may include performing a five-tuple match onthe information obtained from the request and the information indicatedby the policy.

At act 805, the bearer creation system uses the bearer creation datastructure to determine whether to create a dedicated bearer based on thecomparison of the request to the bearer creation information. The bearercreation system may determine that a dedicated bearer should be createdwhen the information obtained from the request and the informationindicated by the policy match. In some embodiments, the bearer creationdata structure includes a local policy. The local policy may be used tocreate the dedicated bearer, such as by defining a level of quality ofservice guaranteed by the dedicated bearer.

After act 805, the process ends.

FIG. 9 is a flow diagram depicting a process to create a dedicatedbearer in the event of a network failure. Acts 901-903 proceed similarlyto acts 501-503.

At act 905, the bearer creation system detects that a network failurehas occurred, such as at least one of the PCF 133 or BSF 131 not beingoperational. The bearer creation system may detect that the PCF 133 isnot operational by receiving an error from the PCF, for example, thebearer creation system may receive an “N7 connection down” error. Thebearer creation system may detect that the BSF 131 is not operational byreceiving an error from the BSF, for example, the bearer creation systemmay receive an “Rx connection down” error. The error may be detected atthe SBC, the SMF, or at another function used by the bearer creationsystem, RDC 120, or NDC 130. In some embodiments, the bearer creationsystem determines that at least one of the PCF 133 or BSF 131 are notoperational based on a determination of the network load, networkcapacity, etc.

At act 907, the bearer creation system determines whether a dedicatedbearer should be created based on the comparison of the request to thepolicy information. The bearer creation system may also determinewhether to create a dedicated bearer based on a determination, ordetection, that a network failure has occurred, such as at least one ofthe PCF 133 or BSF 131 not being operational.

At act 909, if the dedicated bearer should be created the processcontinues to 913, otherwise the process continues to act 911. Acts 911and 913 proceed in a similar manner to acts 609 and 611. After act 913,the process ends.

The various embodiments described above can be combined to providefurther embodiments. All of the U.S. patents, U.S. patent applicationpublications, U.S. patent applications, foreign patents, foreign patentapplications and non-patent publications referred to in thisspecification and/or listed in the Application Data Sheet areincorporated herein by reference, in their entirety. Aspects of theembodiments can be modified, if necessary to employ concepts of thevarious patents, applications and publications to provide yet furtherembodiments.

These and other changes can be made to the embodiments in light of theabove-detailed description. In general, in the following claims, theterms used should not be construed to limit the claims to the specificembodiments disclosed in the specification and the claims, but should beconstrued to include all possible embodiments along with the full scopeof equivalents to which such claims are entitled. Accordingly, theclaims are not limited by the disclosure.

1. A system, comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memorycoupled to the at least one processor, the memory havingcomputer-executable instructions stored thereon that, when executed bythe at least one processor, cause the system to: electronically detectthat a request to initiate a session has been sent by user equipment,the user equipment being associated with a network policy;electronically compare the request to initiate the session toinformation indicated by the network policy; electronically initiate thesession based on the comparison of the request to the informationindicated by the network policy; electronically detect a failure eventassociated with at least one network infrastructure component used toinitiate the session; electronically determine whether a dedicatedbearer should be created based on the comparison of the request to theinformation indicated by the network policy; and electronically enable alocal network policy to create a dedicated bearer for the session basedon a determination that a dedicated bearer should be created.
 2. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein comparing the request to initiate the sessionto information indicated by the network policy further comprisesperforming deep packet inspection on the request.
 3. The system of claim2, wherein comparing the request to initiate the session to informationindicated by the network policy further comprises performing afive-tuple match.
 4. The system of claim 1, wherein thecomputer-executable instructions further cause the system to:electronically route the session through a default bearer based on adetermination that the dedicated bearer should not be created.
 5. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the session comprises a voice call.
 6. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the session comprises a video call.
 7. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the request comprises a SIP request.
 8. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein, the local network policy indicates one ormore quality of service attributes associated with the user equipment.9. The system of claim 1, wherein dedicated bearer is a 5QI dedicatedbearer.
 10. The system of claim 1, wherein the user equipment isconfigured to use a network slice.
 11. A method in user equipment, themethod comprising: electronically transmitting a request to initiate acall; electronically conducting a session by using a bearer, wherein thebearer is created based on at least: a comparison of the request toinitiate the call with information indicated by a network policyassociated with the user equipment; a determination of whether to createa dedicated bearer based on at least the comparison of the request tothe information indicated by the network policy and a detected failureevent for at least one network infrastructure component; and a localnetwork policy indicating one or more quality of service attributesassociated with the user device, wherein the bearer is created as adedicated bearer based on a determination that a dedicated bearer shouldbe created.
 12. The method of claim 11, wherein the bearer is created asa default bearer based on a determination that a dedicated bearer shouldnot be created.
 13. The method of claim 11, wherein the call comprises avoice call.
 14. The method of claim 11, wherein the call comprises avideo call.
 15. The method of claim 11, wherein the request comprises aSIP request.
 16. One or more storage devices collectively storing abearer creation data structure for access and processing by a programexecuted by at least one computer processor that, when accessed andprocessed by at least one computer processor, functionally enables thecomputer processor to: receive a request to initiate a session, therequest being transmitted by user equipment; initiate the session basedon a comparison of the request to information indicated by a networkpolicy; and determine whether to create a dedicated bearer for thesession, the bearer creation data structure comprising: informationindicating a network policy associated with the user equipment, thenetwork policy including bearer creation information for the networkpolicy; information indicating a local network policy used to create adedicated bearer; and information indicating the request to initiate thesession, wherein the bearer creation information is compared to therequest to initiate the session, wherein the detection of the failureevent, the comparison of the bearer creation information, and therequest to initiate the session are used to determine whether to createa dedicated bearer for a call, and wherein a network infrastructurecomponent accesses the information indicating the local network policyto create the dedicated bearer based on the determination that thededicated bearer should be created.
 17. The one or more storage devicesof claim 16, wherein the information indicating the local network policyfurther comprises: information indicating one or more quality of serviceattributes.
 18. The one or more storage devices of claim 16, wherein thebearer creation data structure further comprises: information indicatinga default bearer, wherein the default bearer is used for the session inresponse to a determination that the dedicated bearer should not becreated for the call.
 19. The one or more storage devices of claim 16,wherein the comparison of the bearer creation information and therequest to initiate the session further comprises a deep packetinspection.
 20. The one or more storage devices of claim 16, wherein therequest to initiate the session comprises a SIP request.